Vietnam (MNN) — Last week, hundreds of representatives from across the globe gathered for the International Religious Freedom summit in the U.S. But authorities in Vietnam had prevented three of its citizens from attending.
In a recent conversation with Greg Musselman of Voice of the Martyrs Canada, Paul Paduhiloa with Voice of the Martyrs Australia explained what the Vietnamese Church endures.
“If we zoom out, there are three kinds of church in Vietnam: the registered Church, the semi-registered church, and the other underground church. I do believe that Christianity is flourishing and the underground church, they’re expanding. Many people are coming now to the Lord Jesus Christ because of the faithful witness of our brothers and sisters.”
That faithful witness endures opposition in urban and rural contexts — in the different “kinds” of churches Paduhiloa named.
In cities like Saigon, “they allow church to exist given that they register for the state and given that they abide with what the state would want them to do,” he says.
“But in the provinces and the villages, it is different. Officials would tell them that ‘We are the law, whatever we we say you follow.’”
Recently a pastor was beaten to death after refusing to stop church worship gatherings. Paduhiloa has many stories like this. Yet he says believers are holding firmly to Christ in spite of violence, loss and suffering.
“Just to be fair as well, some of them are really fearful. Of course, it’s hard to lose a land, it’s hard to lose a loved one because of that,” he says.
“But, they believe that Jesus is more than anything in this world, and that’s why they’re willing to die for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ.”
There’s a lot more to the situation in Vietnam. Listen to the full conversation with VOM Radio coming later this month. For now, pray persecutors will be drawn to Christ.
“Last year, I was able to interview one of the thugs that was trying to destroy believers. He said, ‘I’m a result of the love of [these] Christians. I was persecuting them.’ But right now he’s able to stand for the Lord, and now he’s taking the beating. He was doing the beatings before. Now he’s taking the beatings because, he believes in the Lord Jesus Christ, and that was the result of the love of the brethren there.”
Header photo of a Vietnamese family is a representative stock photo courtesy of Lê Tân via Unsplash.
